Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro HardcoverReview

Though the New 52 was originally marketed as a line-wide reboot of the DC Comics titles and existing continuity, it quickly became apparent that there were certain exceptions to the rule. While much of the Bat-family continuity was retained (Batman Inc., Damian Wayne), there was plenty that was altered as well (Babs back as Batgirl, Dick Grayson demoted to Nightwing). Because of this, Green Lantern earned the reputation of being the only franchise that remained more or less unchanged from the past. Geoff Johns’ epic run continued even with the new #1s, and it wound up being both a positive and negative facet to the New 52 Green Lantern.

Conveniently, Johns’ long term plan resulted in the natural plotline of Sinestro regaining a Green Lantern ring while Hal Jordan lost it. This fortunately gave the new volume of Green Lantern an easy jump-on point for new readers, which is contained in the new Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro hardcover. Collecting issues #1-6, this book manages to establish the general purview of the GL mythos for new readers, though it’s a baseline knowledge at best. As such, this first volume is a fun read for longtime GL fans, but will likely leave most newbies high and dry as far as emotional punch, character dynamics, and even major plot points are concerned. For instance, the story’s emotional core that hinges on the long history of Sinestro and Hal will be mostly lost on a new reader.

Whereas Justice League Vol. 1 gives a very rudimentary introduction to the characters, Green Lantern Vol. 1 focuses its efforts on the mythology itself. In fact, there are numerous scenes throughout this first volume that features characters dishing exposition to themselves or others in order to explain certain facets of the mythos to readers. The dialogue isn’t clunky, but at a certain point – particularly for established fans – you begin to question the logic of its existence.

All of that being said, Green Lantern Vol. 1 is an exciting next step for Johns’ ever growing GL saga. As has been apparent since the very beginning, Johns makes it clear that his story is just as much about Sinestro as it is Hal, showing off more of the Star Wars influence a la Darth Vader/Luke. More importantly, he begins to pay off a central threat that has been growing in the story since the seeds of the Sinestro Corps War – the Guardians’ lust for power. In fact, this collection has the distinction of holding the first real moment where readers stop questioning Sinestro’s methodology and begin supporting it.

Meanwhile, the work Johns does with Hal Jordan here is fun. Though he quickly regains his ring (kind of), seeing him try to assimilate to normal life is both humorous and tragic. While I feel that the situation could have been exploited a bit more for dramatic effect, Johns gets a fair amount of mileage out of bringing Hal back down to Earth to deal with things like bills, transportation, and most importantly, his relationship with Carol.

Doug Mahnke doesn’t miss a beat between the last Green Lantern series and the new one. Making a welcome return is his crisp, detailed line work and stunning ability to manage the cosmic craziness that Johns writes. Green Lantern Vol. 1 is another stellar example of widescreen comics, offering plenty of big splash pages and breathing room for action sequences. The color work is sometimes overbearing during moments of extreme ring slingin’, but overall the artwork comes together as a nice, clean package. That is, aside from issue #6, which features guest artist Mike Choi. Choi’s approach shifts the series to a painterly style with delicate line work and completely barren backgrounds. Add to that the fact that the characters appear incredibly young looking (I thought it was a flashback to Hal’s childhood until the dialogue said otherwise), and you’re left with a sore thumb of a chapter that is held back by the dip in art quality. Worse is that this chapter is not simply a standalone tale, but another key development in the ongoing story.

However, the supplemental material of this collection is commendable. It lacks any real creator commentary, but all of the variant covers for the series are included and the book features a gallery of Mahnke’s pages from early roughs to completed pencils. I found myself flipping between these images and the final product within the collection numerous times, and the visual insight into his process was appreciated.

In the end, new readers shouldn’t be taken by the New 52 branding here. While the series is certainly readable for newbies as far as a narrative goes, experience with Johns’ work on Green Lantern since 2004 is a perquisite for fully appreciating the intricacies of his story.

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He will love Star Wars until the end of his days.